Finally finding their place? MGMT’s new self-titled album

MGMT’s new album, MGMT, hit the ground on September 17. The album is fresh and unexpected, and undoubtedly starkly contrasted to the poppy, feel-good nature of Oracular Spectacular (2007), which the band blatantly claims to detest.

MGMT is not looking to appeal to pop-music consumers or pissed off preteens yet to find The Flaming Lips, but to people who will find genuine merit in the complexity of their music. Speaking about the record, Ben Goldwasser of the band has revealed: “We’re not trying to make music that everyone understands the first time they hear it.” The fact that MGMT self-titled the album poses an interesting question: has MGMT finally found their musical identity?

On April 20th of this year, “Alien Days,” a track off of the new album, was released. Frontrunner Andrew Van-Wyngarden said it was about “that feeling when a parasitic alien is in your head, controlling things.” To further amplify the psychedelic nature of the record, MGMT released a full length visualizer to accompany the album, called The Optimizer. “The Optimizer takes the listening experience to a whole new level’” says Hailey Caldwell (C‘16).

To fully appreciate the album, one must consider “Time to Pretend” or “Kids,” MGMT’s “Creep” or “She Don’t Use Jelly:” very popular tracks that are flukes, and un-representative of the group’s style as a whole. Is it late at night? Fratting didn’t fully satisfy you? Well, turn on that Optimizer and let yourself be consumed into the psychedelic world of MGMT’s new album.